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| Reviews Summary for ACE-HF PRO HF Propagation Simulation and Visualisation Software |
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Reviews: 4
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Average rating: 4.8/5
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MSRP: $99
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Description: ACE (Animated Communications Effectiveness) provides HF ham radio propagation predictions for the 1.8-30 MHz bands, displays area coverage from designated transmitters and receivers, and determines circuit quality and best frequency for groups of circuits to any location.
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.acehf.com
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write your own review of the ACE-HF PRO HF Propagation Simulation and Visualisation Software.
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VE4KZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 13, 2010 20:39
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Works well. Good buy.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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An earlier review well describes the product.
I found ACE-HF to be intuitive and effective if one is familiar with propagation and antennae. If one is not, then the Help files are aids to getting something out of the product.
Yes, the learning curve is steep but well worth it. One can engineer communication links in order to achieve a particular aim rather than guessing or shooting in the dark! One can plan operations to achieve particular ends.
Hams interested in radio communications technique, in contesting, in DXing, and in ARES operations each will find an application for ACE-HF Propagation Software.
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I2DMI
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 16, 2007 13:21
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complete software
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I'm very happy. The software is great. When I needed help Dick answered very quickly. Support 5/5!
I recommend it.
Frank
I2DMI
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VK2HTI
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 4, 2007 16:06
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Extremely useful software!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Have been using ACE-HF for about two weeks now, and have been nothing short of very impressed with the quality and features of this software, and I've barely scratched the surface of what it can do.
I would have no trouble recommending it to anyone.
73 de Will VK2HTI
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ON4SKY
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 26, 2004 03:42
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Dynamic predictions !
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Hi,
ACE stands for "Animated Communications Effectiveness", a coverage display technique originally developed for U.S. Navy submarine communications.
Written for Windows 32-bit by Richard Buckner, this program uses GeoClock maps, a format that has been choosen in order to match the displays with ACE-VLF used by military clients.
ACE-HF Pro uses the VOACAP engine without modification of algorithms (thus with the same accuracy and limitations), and can be interfaced with GeoClock and a logging software. It can simultaneously calculate several circuits, each using up to five antennas at each end of each circuit, an option asked by contesters using "antenna farms" on as many as five bands.
Some data are extracted from external files like antennas and locations that list 35000 cities world-wide and calls several other programs.
Representing about 50 MB on disk, 500 files and 50 directories, it is thus not available for demo purposes due to its size.
Its main originality over all other VOACAP-based programs is to display animated circuit graphs of SNR, reliability, required power gain, takeoff angle and signal strength. To achieve this, ACE-HF Pro employs cubic spline interpolation to produce chart values at five-minute intervals in order to better describe what happens in the real world. Of course these intermediate values show less precision that hourly predictions. Several charts can also be displayed, to name the MUF (with HPF and FOT), Best Frequency, and an SNR or reliability summary chart.
The input screens have been redesigned since version 1.0 and look great even if they show some "adaptations" due to the underlying Delphi engine that scales differently according to resolutions and operating systems. The world map is fully graphical, using EGA or BMP image which colors are a little too bright due to the use of GeoClock, ACE' standard interface.
Among additional tools, ACE-HF provides HFANT to model antennas, a beacon monitoring showing the strength of their signal and reliability, and an interface for NEC-Win Plus from Arraysolutions.
The product in without any doubt as powerful as its competitors and maybe more flexible. Indeed, on request, right-clicking on the mouse most parameters can be displayed in a pop-up window and changed without having to enter in each submenu of the circuit or only partially.
The program comes with an extended help file, very complete and sorted by feature, but it is non contextual (you cannot press F1 and get help on a field) and you need to browse the document to find a specific item. It should be converted in Microsoft HLP format and fully indexed to be really useful as not all users will take the time to read its 46 pages, even if they are very educative and their reading highly recommended.
In this context the narrative mode can help the casual amateur.
ACE-HF Pro runs on all Windows 32-bit plateforms and is now at version 2.04. It is provided on CD-ROM (with VOACAP) and a 3.5" floppy disk containing the transmitter location file (your license) that will be copied onto disk during the install procedure.
Compared to equivalent functions available to its competitors and its GUI, in my humble opinion the high price of ACE-HF Pro is no more justified, but exceptionally it keeps its four stars for its excellent animation using GeoClock map, a very original concept that no other publisher provides, and the great number of users, most professionals that trust in this product and the other prediction programs released by the publisher.
No demo available due to its size. However, an extensive "Take the tour" section is provided on the website as well as free and very instructive propagation tutorials written by Dick Buckner and George Lane.
License. Comes with VOACAP. For all Windows 32-bit plateforms.
73
Thierry
http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry
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